Old Forge Library staff is pleased to announce that there are two new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations installed on the property and ready for use. In keeping with the tradition of providing needed services for the public, the Library’s Board of Trustees decided this would be beneficial in serving the needs of the public and allow electric automobile owners the opportunity to come in and explore what the library has to offer.
A new septic inspection program around Lake George could commence as early as the spring, with just over 500 properties becoming the first to submit to a new requirement that septic systems in critical areas in the lake basin get inspected every five years.
The Lake George Park Commission, which has been developing the regulatory proposal for around 18 months, cleared its latest process hurdle with a public hearing the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
The comments were largely supportive of new septic inspection requirements, but some raised concerns about newer, better maintained systems being treated the same as old, malfunctioning ones.
Over one hundred people attended Community Resiliency Trainings throughout the Champlain and Upper Hudson River Watersheds. Ten events bolstered flood resiliency toolboxes for highway departments, prepared communities for climate change, and instructed Soil and Water Conservation District staff how to protect watershed health through erosion prevention.
“Soil and Water Conservation Districts partnered with Watershed Coalitions to host trainings that were laser focused on climate resiliency,” said Upper Hudson River Watershed Coalition president Caitlin Stewart. “Our target audience was municipalities, departments of public works, contractors, SWCD staff, environmental and conservation groups, and the public.”
On Friday, December 2, Governor Kathy Hochul announced 38 new graduates from the 23rd Basic School for New York State Forest Rangers. As part of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Forest Protection, New York Forest Rangers protect the state’s natural resources and communities and stand ready to support states across the country in the face of emergencies like wildfires. The ceremony held in Lake Placid [the morning of Dec. 2] celebrated graduates from across New York State who followed extensive law enforcement and natural resources training in the classroom as well as in the field.
Knowing the fundamentals of how to read a map and use a compass should be at the core of your outdoor skills. GPS tools or apps are great to have, but they aren’t a replacement for a paper map and compass and the ability to use them. Even if you have top of the line technology for wayfinding, a map and compass should still always be among the essentials in your pack.
The water of Lake George is rated as drinking water quality, which is no small feat for a lake of this size and with such heavy usage. The water remains clean and clear for several reasons. We have no industry or commercial agriculture on the shores, and the many springs on the lake’s bottom constantly feed it with clean water. Lake George is also unique in that it has its own state regulatory body, the Lake George Park Commission (LGPC), created in 1988 to protect the lake and safeguard the people who use it.
Lowville, New York – Results from the latest Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) maple research projects will be presented at the Making the Most of Maple workshop on Saturday, December 3, 2022, in Lowville, New York. Northern New York Maple Specialist Adam Wild, director of the Uihlein Maple Research Forest at Lake Placid, will be joined by Cornell University’s Statewide Maple Specialist Aaron Wightman, and Cornell Maple Program Product Development Food Scientist Catherine Belisle, Ph.D., as workshop presenters. The 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. workshop will be held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County Learning Center located at 7395 East Road in Lowville. Contact CCE at 315-376-5270 to reserve your space by November 30.
In 1986, Patricia LeClair and her husband built a house on nine acres of land in Corinth that they bought from neighbors, Jack Curtis and Mary Curtis. Jack, Mary’s brother, was an old friend of Patricia’s husband. Over the years, Mary and Patricia became close and Patricia frequently walked in the woods that spread across both the LeClair and Curtis’ properties. After Jack and Mary passed away, the Curtis’ property was left to the LeClair family.
Patricia LeClair held on to an article about Saratoga PLAN for many years and after thinking about how important land preservation was, she decided to donate a substantial portion (127.5 acres) of her land, the land that had been left to her by the Curtis family, to Saratoga PLAN. The LeClair family has made an outstanding gift to the community; helping to ensure the property’s ecological, educational, historic, recreational, and scenic values are maintained for generations to come. This gift to the community was also made possible by Saratoga County’s Farmland and Open Space grant, where monies were used to pay transaction costs, and from the Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network grant which will help with future stewardship needs for the land.
AdkAction’s Compost for Good (CfG) project is looking for a new home for a community scale in-vessel drum composter. The 4’x20′ design is capable of processing up to 50,000 pounds of food scraps per year and will be made available to a North Country Site Host to be used as a demonstration site.
The in-vessel system was conceived of by John Culpepper and the late Greg LeClair from Jay, NY as an opportunity for the North Country School Camp Treetops to streamline their composting practices. The duo built the unit out of readily available materials through a grant from NYSERDA in 2015. It has successfully converted tens of thousands of pounds of food scraps into compost while offering educational opportunities for students and visitors alike. Three additional systems were built through the same grant and are now in operation at the Tupper Lake Wild Center, Lake Placid Central School, and Hermon Dekalb Central School.
ADIRONDACKS —The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) and its partners have charted a course for the next five years. The “Adirondack Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) Strategic Plan 2023–2027” outlines how APIPP and its partners will minimize the impact of invasive species on the Adirondack region’s communities, lands and waters.
“The 2023-2027 Strategic Plan highlights some of the innovative ways PRISM partners build knowledgeable and engaged Adirondack communities that are empowered to act,” said Peg Olsen, Adirondack Chapter Director of The Nature Conservancy. “The Nature Conservancy and APIPP share a vision for an Adirondack region where the diversity of life thrives, and our lands and waters are protected for future generations. As the climate continues to change and exacerbate the spread and impact of invasive species, APIPP’s foundational work as a leader in invasive species prevention, eradication and management, and as a convener of more than 30 diverse regional partners, is even more vital.”
PAUL SMITHS, NY –Paul Smith’s College and Power52 Clean Energy Access Institute signed a green energy pathway agreement that will grant graduates of Power52’s 450-hour solar installation workforce certificate six college credits. Power52’s Clean Energy Access Institute is meeting growing workforce demand in well-paying sustainable jobs in the renewable energy sector by training individuals from underrepresented communities in solar installation.
The new pathway provides graduates of the Clean Energy Access Institute’s workforce program access to Paul Smith’s world-class college degree programs in environmental sciences, sustainability, natural resources conservation, and many other programs focuses on environmental sustainability and combating climate change. Not only does the agreement open the door to underrepresented communities to attain an associates or bachelor degree in critically-needed areas, like environmental sciences, it allows graduates of Power52’s workforce certification program to attain a college degree faster and at a lower cost.
November 14, 2022 — Lake Placid, NY — The Adirondack Mountain Club’s Cascade Welcome Center is now open for the winter season. A hub for visitor information and community-based recreation, the Center offers 12 miles of groomed cross-country skiing and snowshoeing throughout the winter months.
Grooming will begin as soon as there is enough snow on the ground. Once that happens, recreators will be able to enjoy trails that wind through dense woodland, along open wetlands, and past incredible views of surrounding high peaks. Many of these trails are rated as easy, making this a great area for first-time skiers, families, and those looking for a more relaxing trip.
WHALLONSBURG – The Adirondack Land Trust is hosting a free informational session for farmland owners on Tuesday, November 15 at 6 p.m. at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall, located at 1610 NY-22, Essex, NY. The event, “How do conservation easements impact farm operations?” features the following panelists:
· James Graves, Owner/Operator, Full and By Farm, Essex
· Alice Halloran, Essex County Soil & Water Conservation District
· Jeff Kehoe, Ag Protection Planner, NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets
· Ashlee Kleinhammer, Proprietor, North Country Creamery
· Megan Stevenson, Land Protection Manager, Adirondack Land Trust
What started as a wholesome family tradition of cleaning up the area around their Fourth Lake camp has transpired into a widespread clean up event dubbed Maintain the Chain (MTC) that focuses efforts on the Fulton Chain of Lakes. In its inaugural year as a formal event in 2021, Maintain the Chain garnered support from the Fulton Chain of Lakes Association (FCLA), towns of Webb and Inlet, and the Sixth and Seventh Lakes Improvement Association, and partnered with the Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI). The momentum continued for the 2022 event this past summer, Aug. 5-14, dates which coincided with Adirondack Water Week and the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.
At Adirondack Wild’s October meeting at the Paul Smith’s Visitor Interpretive Center, lakes and ponds came under the spotlight in a panel discussion about Cooperative Stewardship of Adirondack Lakes. Of particular interest was a given lake’s classification and subsequent comprehensive study, planning and management. If Adirondack waterbodies are considered part of the Forest Preserve, and for the last fifty years the State Land Master Plan talks about incorporating both land and water, then the law requires that lakes and ponds be classified, just as forests are. That raises important questions.
Classification leads to…If the lakes are classified, then they are subject to unit management planning, just as trails, trailheads and mountain summits are. The classification sets the basic guidelines and legally required outcomes. If lakes and ponds are subject to UMPs, then their carrying capacity, or ability of lakes and ponds in the Forest Preserve to withstand a variety of present and anticipated future uses, must be evaluated, like the requirement to measure and assess actual and projected public use on our forest’s trails and summits. I am not suggesting such assessments are an easy or inexpensive thing to do. Under the APA Act, however, it is a legal requirement, however often left untried or unfinished. And the state legislature just appropriated a lot more money than DEC has ever had before for wilderness protection and management.
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